International Commission on Missing Persons

8 September 2010: The German Government has announced that it will provide funds for the work of the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) for the year 2010. The donation amounting to 300,000 Euros will support ICMP’s DNA-based identification program in the Western Balkans, which has already helped in accurately identifying 15,682 persons missing from the armed conflicts of the 1990’s.

On this occasion, the German Embassy chargée d’affaires ad interim Christiana Markert and ICMP Director General Ms. Kathryne Bomberger signed a donation agreement in ICMP’s international headquarters in Sarajevo.

2 September 2010: According to the National Network of the Missing, there are 45,248 registered cases of disappearance in Colombia; therefore it is a priority to support the state strategy to strengthen the search and identification process of missing persons in Colombia. For that reason, the National Institute for Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences (INMLCF) and the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) with support provided by ProFis Project: Support to the peace process in Colombia within the context of the Law on Justice and Peace – an example of transitional justice, executed by GTZ at the request of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany, will organize on the 6^th, 7^th and 8^th of September, Advancements in the process of human genetic identification with emphasis on mtDNA.

“Forcibly Disappeared and Missing Persons is a Continuing Global Problem”

ICMP Appeals to States to Join the Convention on Enforced Disappearance

30 August 2010: The International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) would like to use the opportunity of the International Day of the Disappeared to note that the issue of missing persons from armed conflict, crimes against humanity and violations of human rights continues to be a global problem. ICMP appeals to States to join the Convention on Enforced Disappearance and to take responsibility for locating and identifying missing persons, for building appropriate rule of law institutions to search for the missing and…

9 July 2010: By analyzing DNA profiles extracted from bone samples of exhumed mortal remains and matching them to the DNA profiles obtained from blood samples donated by relatives of the missing, the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) has revealed the identity of 6,481 persons missing from the July 1995 fall of Srebrenica. Of this, 775 DNA-identified victims will be buried on July 11^th in the Potočari Memorial Center, Srebrenica.

9 June 2010: A delegation consisting of 15 participants representing victims’ groups, parliamentarians, ministry representatives, judges and human rights activists and lawyers from Lebanon completed a week-long visit to the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) and to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). The purpose of this visit was to learn about ICMP’s work and the rule of law institutions in BiH involved in addressing missing persons’ rights, such as the Missing Persons Institute of BiH and the BiH Prosecutor and Court.

27 April 2010: The International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) has further strengthened the capacity of the Missing Persons Institute of Bosnia-Herzegovina (MPI) as MPI and Tuzla authorities assume full responsibility today for the ongoing operations of the Podrinje Identification Project (PIP) forensic facility after a meeting with the Mayor of Tuzla, Mr. Jasmin Imamovic.

26 March 2010: The International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) has made a total of 13,000 DNA-assisted identifications of persons missing from the conflicts in Bosnia-Herzegovina, by analyzing DNA profiles extracted from bone samples of exhumed mortal remains and matching them to the DNA profiles obtained from blood samples donated by relatives of the missing.

The Colombian Search Commission for Disappeared Persons (CBPD) has issued a report on the implementation of the central mechanisms established by the state to address the issue of missing persons. This is the first such public report issued by the CBPD. The report aims to increase the transparency on activities implemented to date by the state in order to locate and identify missing persons.

22 February 2010: The Government of the Republic of Turkey has further demonstrated its commitment to the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina and to reinforcing stability, justice and the rule of law in the country by making a grant to the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) of US$200,000.

The funds were granted following a meeting in Sarajevo between the Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs H.E. Professor Dr. Ahmet Davutoglu, and ICMP’s Director-General Ms. Kathryne Bomberger. The grant shall be used for ICMP’s work throughout Bosnia-Herzegovina.

17 February 2010: The Chairman of the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) James V. Kimsey made an assessment trip to Haiti where countless numbers of persons are still missing and an estimated 200,000 people have died following the major earthquake of 12^th January 2010.

The Chairman met with Haitian President Rene Preval and Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive and discussed ways in which ICMP may be able to provide assistance through its Disaster Victim Identification program. The bodies of more than 75,000 people are estimated to have been buried in mass graves around the capital, Port-au-Prince.